In interesting remarks ahead of the fifth India-US Strategic Dialogue, US secretary of state John Kerry has described India as an indispensable partner for the 21st century. Furthermore, Kerry stressed that the new Indian government’s vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ was praiseworthy and reiterated his government’s support for India’s place in an expanded UN Security Council. Kerry’s message reflects a perceptible change in Washington’s attitude towards India-US ties, which had hit a rough patch in recent years. It’s clear that the Obama administration now wants to turn the page on the phase of resentment that had marked bilateral relations.

There’s no denying that several irritants had crept into two-way ties. From the US point of view, India’s lackadaisical approach to economic liberalisation — highlighted by the tardy pace of opening up to foreign direct investment — and hostile policies such as the retrospective tax amendment had frustrated American businesses. Add to this India’s self goals such as nixing India-US nuclear commerce through the Nuclear Liability Act. Similarly, New Delhi was peeved by the Obama administration’s earlier criticism of outsourcing and badgering of Indian IT companies through visa caps for ‘stealing’ American jobs. Things came to a boil when diplomatic convention was flouted in the treatment meted out to Devyani Khobragade by American authorities.

It’s welcome that Kerry has sought to bury the hatchet by stating that Indian companies such as Tata were actually creating close to one lakh jobs in the US. There’s little doubt that India needs American investments to kick-start the economic revival here. Hence, New Delhi would do well to adopt a more conciliatory approach to woo US businesses. In this regard, India’s stand at the WTO is inexplicable. Single-handedly holding up progress in multilateral trade negotiations sends the wrong signals to foreign investors and partners.

So far Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chosen to emphasise Brics and relations with regional neighbours to further India’s foreign policy agenda. But with the visa issue a thing of the past and given his scheduled visit to Washington later in the year, Modi shouldn’t carry a chip on his shoulder in dealing with the US. His government must strike a balance between South-South cooperation and India-US ties. And with the impending US withdrawal from Afghanistan, it needs Washington to jointly evolve a new counter-terrorism strategy for the region. Given the Modi government’s mandate, it must use this opportunity to reboot the critically important India-US relationship.